Visfrank
by Catgirl the Crazy
Summary: With help from a certain chimera, Amelia develops her own original spell. Takes place during Next. Companion piece to Jellyfish Sorcerer in Training.


**Visfrank**

Long ago, Zelgadis had come to the conclusion that he was the most normal of his friends. Ironic, really, considering his appearance.

"Gimme back those noodles Lina!"

"Not on your life Gourry!"

Zelgadis watched his two friends eat like starving peasants and reaffirmed this conclusion for the zillionth time. _Yup. Definitely the most normal._ Still, he noticed Lina and Gourry were eating twice as much as they usually ate- a truly frightening sight for anyone who sees it.

"You guys are hungry today," he remarked offhandedly, sipping his tea.

"Well duh!" Lina shot him a reproachful look. "We just fought a battle with two really powerful Mazoku! We have to get our strength- IF YOU TOUCH THAT BEEF I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET IT!" The last part turned into a screech as her blond protector made a swipe at her plate.

Zelgadis decided not to point out that this battle they "just" fought was actually six days ago. Like either of them would care. "And just who's going to pay for all this?" he asked.

"Seyruun royal family, of course," Lina said simply, not looking up from her meal. "They owe us big time after all the trouble we've gone through for them."

Surprised, Zelgadis glanced at Amelia. He would've expected her to be lecturing Lina on the injustice of making others pay for your food if this were the case. But the princess had been oddly quiet throughout the entire meal. She was staring thoughtfully off into space. She didn't even seem to notice as Lina helped herself to the food on her plate. Occasionally, she gave him these odd, almost calculating looks. This uncharacteristic behavior sent a chill of foreboding through Zelgadis.

Whatever Amelia was thinking about, something told him he wouldn't like it. _Don't overreact,_ he tried to reassure himself. _This isn't Lina we're talking about. I'm sure she's not planning to sell me to the freak show or anything like that. She probably just wants to, uh… try out her newest Justice speech on me. _Frankly, Zelgadis didn't know which prospect was more terrifying.

* * *

After breakfast, the Princess cornered him. Literally, she backed him into a corner of the hallway Zelgadis gulped fearfully and braced himself for the worst…

"Would you teach me Astral Vine?"

Caught completely off guard, he could only blink and look at her stupidly. That was probably the last thing he'd expected her to ask him. "What?"

"I said, would you teach me Astral Vine?" Amelia repeated patiently.

He blinked again, trying to process this. "You want me to teach you Astral Vine?" he parroted.

The corner of her mouth twitched. With amusement or impatience, he couldn't be sure. "Yes, that's right."

"But… why?" was the obvious question on his mind.

"Well, I saw you use it while fighting Kanziel and Mazenda, and I thought it would be a useful spell to know," she explained.

"But Astral Vine can only be used with a sword," Zelgadis pointed out.

"Why?" Amelia asked him. "All it does is infuse a sword with magical power, right?"

"Right…" he said slowly, not sure where she was going with this.

"Then why can't the same concept be applied to other things, like, I dunno, a stick?" Amelia asked.

Zelgadis blinked. _Now why didn't I think of that?_ "You mean modifying the spell?"

"Exactly!" she beamed like a teacher whose favorite pupil had figured out the answer to a tough question.

Zelgadis was still dubious. Spell modification was a lot easier said than done. Even an expert in spell mechanics couldn't do something like that without difficulty. But hard experience had taught him that when Amelia set her mind to something, nothing short of drugging and tying her down could prevent her from doing it. It would be a lot less painful just to humor her, he decided. Not to mention the fact that he owed her for teaching him Recovery...

Zelgadis sighed and agreed to teach her.

* * *

Several days passed without incident (that term is used loosely). Business went on as usual. Traveling by day, sleeping at inns or in tents by night, and Lina and Gourry stuffing their faces at every opportunity. But, one thing was different.

"Hey, where's Amelia?" Gourry wondered aloud as the terrified waiter scurried off with their order.

Lina shrugged and leaned back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head. "She's been spending all her time up in her room. Probably working on her latest 'Ally of Justice' routine."

Zelgadis said nothing. Privately, he was pretty sure he knew what the Princess was doing up there- she'd been going off on her own every night since he'd taught her Astral Vine. But the chimera didn't feel inclined to tell Lina and Gourry about it. Amelia would tell them when she wanted to.

Just then, Zelgadis heard the sound of someone thundering down the stairs and calling his name. He turned around to see who it was, just in time to see a bright white light before something collided painfully with his forehead.

The next he knew, he was on the ground, bright red and yellow stars in his eyes. "Ow…" he muttered, trying to sit up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Zelgadis, I didn't mean to hit you! I'm so sorry, did I hurt you? I-!" a female voice babbled frantically.

"Geez, calm down Amelia," another voice cut her off, irritated. "It's not like you killed him or anything. Zel's tough as a rock, remember?"

Zelgadis glowered at the sorceress as he sat up. "Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically.

"See?" Lina said, gesturing at him with a grin. "No harm done!"

Gourry bent over and stared at Zelgadis' face in amazement. "Wow! I didn't know you could get bruises, Zel!"

"Huh?" Zelgadis said. Lina and Amelia leaned in for a closer look. Lina whistled, while.

"Wow, you're right Gourry! Look at those colors!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Zelgadis demanded as Amelia burst into another round of apologies. "Let me see!" Someone procured a mirror. Sure enough, he saw, there was a dark maroon colored mark twice the size of his fist sitting squarely above the bridge of his nose. He stared dumbly at his reflection.

"What did you do to him Amelia?" Lina asked in awe.

Amelia started to heal him, still feeling bad about the whole thing. "That was Visfrank," she replied, and explained about her theory regarding Astral Vine. "I wanted to show you when I'd finished, but I got sort of carried away…" she said, looking sheepishly at the now healed Zelgadis.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Lina muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Er, nothing."

Still at a loss for words, Zelgadis touched the spot where she had hit him. The bruise was gone, but the area was still tender. _Note to self: Never get on Amelia's bad side._

_

* * *

_

A/N: This fic is sort of a companion piece to "Jellyfish Sorcerer in Training," for reasons I think should be obvious. Chronologically, as I implied earlier, this fic takes place during Next, right after the Seyruun story arc but before the start of the filler episodes.

I've noticed that whenever I write AZ, it's always a lot easier for me to write from Zel's POV than Amelia's. I find it a lot harder to get into her head then I do with the other main Slayers. Weird...

As always, R&R!


End file.
